Information for staff - dual learning in PC clusters

To ensure synchronous teaching is made more accessible to remote learners, a solution has been put in place which will allow you to deliver dual learning in PC clusters. This ensures that students logging in remotely will receive the same quality of teaching as those who are on campus.

This information is specific to PC clusters; information about dual delivery teaching in central teaching spaces can be found on the Media Services website.

Prerequisites

This service is only available to staff who have agreed with their faculty leadership that they should be participating in dual delivery teaching, and as such are on the appropriate lists which allow you to request equipment.

To request authorisation for dual delivery teaching in PC clusters and associated entitlement to a headset, get in touch with your faculty representative. See "Further queries about dual delivery in PC clusters" at the bottom of this page.

This information only applies to dual learning in PC clusters; it does not apply to teaching activities if these are taking place exclusively in-person or online.

An overview

If you are registered as delivering dual learning sessions in PC clusters, you can be provided with a wireless headset, which will be exclusively yours. This will allow you to talk to students who are in the PC cluster, plus those who are logging in remotely. You should advise remote learners to log into the cluster where the teaching is taking place, via the Remote PC service. By default, 10% of the PCs in a teaching cluster will be assigned to remote learning although this can be changed. This excludes PCs in the libraries and Alan Gilbert Learning Commons. Please bear this in mind when planning the capacity of the room that you need, ensuring you have sufficient capacity to allow all learners to access the resources.

Checklist – before the dual learning activity

  • Ensure the cluster is booked. Bookings are made via the CTS Web Resource booker or local schools, rather than IT Services

  • Check the room capacity is sufficient. Please bear in mind that 10% of the PCs in the cluster will be assigned to remote learning by default. If you need to book a different cluster to allow for an increased number of in-person students, you should ensure that the new cluster has the software you need, and has sufficient concurrent licenses.

  • If you’re planning to use your own laptop to deliver the session, test your wireless headset in advance to ensure it works correctly, and ensure it’s fully charged.

  • If the cluster is large enough for you to need a microphone, you will need to wear the headset and also use the microphone in the PC cluster. We suggest that a lapel microphone would be most appropriate.

  • Create a Teams or Zoom event, as you have been doing for previous remote learning sessions, and send the link to the remote learners.

  • Check that all remote learners know how to log on remotely. Send them information on the Remote PC service and advise them to register in advance in case they need additional help from the IT Support Centre.

If you would like to change the ratio of remote PCs in a cluster, access to this is governed locally, and your area's representative will need to request this via the IT Support Centre. See "Further queries about dual delivery in PC clusters" below.

Checklist – at the start of the session

  • Log in to the computer before you start any other activity; this will ensure the login process can run while other activities are taking place.Plug the wireless receiver for the headset into the computer you’re using to deliver the presentation.

  • Start the Teams or Zoom meeting you have previously scheduled.

  • Ask that the in-person learners log in before the remote learners; this will reduce confusion if an in-person learner attempts to log into a PC to which someone is already logged in.

  • Advise the learners that if they’re in front of a PC which says it’s in use, they’ll need to choose another one.

  • Once the in-person learners have logged in, advise the students to log into the Remote PC service and select the PC cluster you are currently in.

  • Advise the remote learners to ensure their microphones are muted.

Instructions

A detailed step-by-step guide has been produced to help you use PC clusters for dual teaching:

Help and support

Further queries about dual delivery in PC clusters:

  • Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health: Rachel Heyes

  • Faculty of Humanities: Stuart Phillipson

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering: Daniel Jagger